The Only Way Out Is Through: The Peril of Spiritual Bypass

Cashwell, Craig S.; Bentley, Paige; Yarborough, J. Preston

doi:10.1002/j.2161-007x.2007.tb00071.x

Cited by 47 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Several spiritual leaders and psychologists alike have noted that spirituality may be experienced as a means to self-enhancement and/or employed as a narcissistic defence against psychological problems (see Cashwell, Bentley, & Yarborough, 2007;Saint John of the Cross [1577-1578] 1990Welwood, 2000). Jung (1953) asserted that an attraction to spiritual can sometimes be rooted in autonomous narcissism masked as the desire for self-actualisation.…”

Section: Spiritual Barriers To the Development Of Humility Spiritual mentioning

confidence: 99%

Spiritual barriers to humility: a multidimensional study

Sandage

Paine

Hill

2015

Mental Health, Religion & Culture

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Many spiritual and religious traditions view spiritual pride as contrary to humility; however, the rising empirical research on spirituality and humility has involved limited investigation of the variety of spiritual barriers that inhibit a humble disposition. The present study investigated three distinct spiritual barriers (spiritual grandiosity, insecure attachment to God, and hunger for idealisation) as independent predictors of dispositional humility among graduate trainees in the helping professions (N = 162) from a Protestant-affiliated university in the USA. Results indicated that each construct of interest predicted lower levels of humility when controlling for both spiritual impression management and the other spiritual barriers. These findings supported theoretical assertions of the discriminant validity of each independent variable in predicting lower levels of humility and supported construct validity of the humility measure. Conceptual considerations and suggestions for future research and graduate training are discussed.

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Section: Spiritual Barriers To the Development Of Humility Spiritual mentioning

confidence: 99%

Spiritual barriers to humility: a multidimensional study

Sandage

Paine

Hill

2015

Mental Health, Religion & Culture

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“…Spiritual bypass has been hypothesized to manifest in a number of ways, such as extreme external locus of control and abdication of personal responsibility, spiritual obsession, and the repression of emotions, as well as spiritual narcissism-an "I'm enlightened and you're not" syndrome (Cashwell et al, 2007;Welwood, 2000;Whitfield, 2003). The genuine spiritual path involves awareness and acceptance of present moment circumstances.…”

Section: Spiritual Bypassmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spiritual Bypass: A Preliminary Investigation

Cashwell

Glosoff

Hammond

2010

Counseling and Values

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The phenomenon of spiritual bypass has received limited attention in the transpersonal psychology and counseling literature and has not been subjected to empirical inquiry. This study examines the phenomenon of spiritual bypass by considering how spirituality, mindfulness, alexithymia (emotional restrictiveness), and narcissism work together to influence depression and anxiety among college students. Results suggested that mindfulness and alexithymia accounted for variance in depression beyond what is accounted for by spirituality and that all 3 factors (mindfulness, alexithymia, and narcissism) accounted for variance in anxiety beyond what is accounted for by spirituality. Implications for counselors are provided. S pirituality and religion play an important role in the lives of a significant number of Americans. Researchers have found that 96% of Americans believe in a Higher Power, over 90% pray, 69% are members of a religious community, and 43% have attended a religious service within the past 7 days (Princeton Religion Center, 2000). Furthermore, spirituality is a central component of an individual's culture and development, both of which are considered core tenets of the counseling profession. As a result, spirituality continues to be a vital and growing area of interest within professional counseling and counselor education (Cashwell & Young, 2005).The assessment of client spirituality, in particular, seems vital (Harper & Gill, 2005). It is essential that spiritually competent counselors accurately assess the importance of spirituality in clients' lives and how this affects their presenting issues. Spirituality is deeply personal, developmental, and often difficult to describe in words, however, and an accurate assessment is often difficult. To further complicate the assessment process, it is essential that spirituality be assessed in ways that respect the belief systems and values of the client, even when these beliefs and values diverge from those of the counselor.It is easy to believe that clients who report strong convictions, a disciplined spiritual practice, and transpersonal experiences have a high level of spiri-

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“…Two possible explanations exist for why Superiority negatively correlates with Psychological Avoidance. First, though spiritual narcissism is hypothesized as a component of spiritual bypass (Cashwell et al, 2007;Cashwell et al, 2010;Welwood, 2000;Whitfield, 2003), none of the items on the SBS-BT nor in the original version of the scale directly relate to this concept. Second, the internal reliability of the NPI is questionable, rendering the interpretation suspect.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is somewhat surprising since experts have argued that clinicians' being conversant with the nuances of spiritual bypass to be vitally important as many people's pursuit of a spiritual path or being religiously committed to both Eastern and Western traditions is a common experiene (Cashwell, et al 2004;Masters, 2010;Welwood, 1984). Moreover, clinicians have attested to the serious problems that spiritual bypass poses for social, psychological, and spiritual health; among the complications it could pose include depression, anxiety, addiction, stagnated emotional maturity or alexithymia, isolation, and spiritual narcissism (Cashwell et al, 2007;Cashwell et al, 2010;Clarke, Giordano, Cashwell, & Lewis, 2013;Welwood, 2000;Whitfield, 2003). Given such postulations and its supposed widespread prevalence, research on spiritual bypass is sorely needed.…”

Section: A New Measure Of Spiritual Bypassmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship of spiritual bypass and its sub-facets with the psycho-social variables that theoretically correlate with spiritual bypass based on the existing literature (Cashwell, Bentley, & Yarborough, 2007;Cashwell, Clarke, & Graves, 2009;Cashwell et al, 2010;Cashwell, Myers, & Shurts, 2004;Masters, 2010;Welwood, 1984Welwood, , 2000. Once we established their relationship, we also were interested in testing the predictive value of spiritual bypass after accounting for salient control variables.…”

Section: Study 3: the Relationship Between Spiritual Bypass And Psychmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Spiritual Bypass Scale-Brazilian Adaptation: How Religious Affiliation, Age, and Gender Can Predict Levels of Psychological Avoidance and Spiritualizing

Picciotto¹,

Fox²,

Cashwell³

et al. 2018

SPC

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The purpose of this article is to present and discuss three validation studies of the Spiritual Bypass Scale-13 (SBS-13) on a sample of the Brazilian population. These studies have three purposes (a) to recover the twofactor solution of the SBS-13 among a Brazilian population sample; (b) understand how religious affiliation, age, and gender can predict levels of psychological avoidance and spiritualizing; and (c) explore the relationships between spiritual bypass and psycho-social variables, which include depression, anxiety, stress, narcissism, and preference for solitude. All data have been collected using an online self-report survey, and the pre-requisites for filling out the questionnaire are: (a) Brazilian citizenship, (b) a minimum of 18 years of age, and (c) ascribing to some form of spirituality or religion. Based on two different samples of the Brazilian population (N 1 = 193 and N 2 = 729) that follow, the studies evidence acceptable reliability and validity of the Spiritual Bypass Scale-Brazilian Translation (SBS-BT) for use in the Brazilian Portuguese-speaking community.Using confirmatory factor analysis, we have successfully replicated a two-factor structure of the SBS-BT while controlling for the effects of age, gender, and religious affiliation. The model replicates the two-factor structure of the Brazilian version of the SBS with indications of good fit: X

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The Only Way Out Is Through: The Peril of Spiritual Bypass

Cited by 47 publications

References 17 publications

Spiritual barriers to humility: a multidimensional study

Spiritual barriers to humility: a multidimensional study

Spiritual Bypass: A Preliminary Investigation

The Spiritual Bypass Scale-Brazilian Adaptation: How Religious Affiliation, Age, and Gender Can Predict Levels of Psychological Avoidance and Spiritualizing

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